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WiiHacks General Rules and Guidelines

All Wiihacks members: Please Read and Follow the Rules and Guidelines or be Banned! The WiiHacks Site Rules and Guidelines are subject to change without notice. Members should regularly check the Site Rules.

Key Points:

1. All posts must be written in English.
2. WiiHacks resources and services are not to used to either spam or abuse others or to conduct any illegal activity.
3. Commercial spammers will be immediately banned. No unauthorized advertisements are tolerated.

Introduction
The WiiHacks.com Website hosts the world’s largest Wii modding and forum community. In order to maintain a pleasant and relatively open environment within which members of all ages, experience, and background may enjoy the various aspects of the site and community, all members are expected to abide by the site rules and guidelines. Noncompliance with the rules and guidelines will result in disciplinary actions that may include, but are not restricted to: point infraction, member post moderation, temporary restriction to the Reading Room, suspension, or a permanent ban. All disciplinary actions are made at the discretion of the site moderators and are not open to public challenge.

In addition to the General Rules, certain Forums or Threads, the Internet Relay Chat (iRC) Room, and Blogs are governed by additional rules. Forum users are expected to read, learn, and abide by the Forum/Thread-specific rules before posting. The additional Forum/Thread-specific Rules areas are as follows:

1. While the membership to WiiHacks.com is open globally, WiiHacks.com is an English language community. Members are to post in acceptably legible English only. Guidelines for acceptably legible English posts include such common sense items as sentence structure and paragraphs that use both upper and lower case letters, word and line spacing, punctuation, and reasonable grammar as needed for ease of reading the post. Posts lacking these features are difficult to read and tend to be ignored.

2. Only site donators may directly contact WiiHacks staff, moderators, administrators, or ModderMan. Contact via private message (PM), Email, text message, or other means without either site donator status or prior permission will result in either temporary restriction to the Reading Room or a ban.

3. Members are expected to conduct themselves in a civil and appropriate manner that encompasses, but is not restricted to the following:

a) No repeated cursing, profanity, or expressions of bigotry. Attempts to bypass the word filter, or to disguise inappropriate content through the use of alternate characters does not negate the intended action. Upon violation of this rule, moderators may warn or discipline the member. The violative post may be edited, deleted, or moderated without prior notification.
b) No posts, threads, E-mails, or PMs intended to be antagonistic, insulting, or intolerant of other members or staff are allowed. Members are not to stalk, abuse, or intimidate other members. The actions described are also termed spamming, flaming, and trolling and violate site rules. Communications intended to coerce or deceive others into site violations or illegal activity will not be tolerated.
c) The WiiHacks community is open to any persons with access to the Internet. Children are among the membership; accordingly there is zero tolerance for pornography, nudity, indecency, or sexually predatory behavior. Any transgressors will be permanently banned and their IP address blocked.
d) In offering help and advice to fellow members, non-staff members are not to act as staff. Members are to respect site staff at all times.
e) Commercial spam will be deleted and the username permanently banned and reported to an anti-spam service. Unauthorized commercial advertisements in posts, visitor messages, PMs, or signature banners will be deleted and the member subject to disciplinary action at the discretion of site staff.
f) If a member’s violative actions are of an especially egregious nature, WiiHacks reserves the right to present evidentiary materials of violative or illegal activities to any member’s Internet Service Provider for further action.

II. Posting Rules and Guidelines

1. Posts themselves should be made following additional rules and guidelines:

a) Before posting your question, use the SEARCH function. Look through the site Tutorials, Guides, and FAQs.
b) A post should be made in the appropriate Forum or Tutorial Thread. Incorrect post or threads may either be moved to the correct area, deleted, or closed and ignored.
c) Members are to post their question/problem only one time in the correct area. Multiple or duplicate posts will be deleted. Repeated or deliberate flouting of this rule will result in time in the Reading Room or a ban.
d) Responses depend on the availability, expertise, and good-nature of other members and staff. Do not “bump” your post within 24 hours of posting.
e) Interjecting your post into another member’s individual Question/problem Thread is termed “hijacking” and may be ignored, deleted, or result in disciplinary action.
f) Do not post your problem asking for a private response by PM or Email. Responses should be made by posts available for all members to read and learn.
g) Should you post a response to a query that provides a link, that link should be directly to the open source material and not just to another information forum of an outside Website.
h) Posts that do not pose a question should be contributory to the thread or site. Posts with no meaningful content will be deemed to be an effort to increase post count and will be deleted. Repeated posts of this nature will result in disciplinary action.
i) No commercial advertising is allowed. Exceptions to this are made for authorized sponsors and others given explicit permission.
j) Neither threads nor posts designed to promote another website or the member’s own private site are allowed without administrator permission.
k) Do not post links or invitations to posts or sites with illegal content, nudity, or adult content. Violation will result in an immediate permanent ban.
l) Do not post requests for invitations to private trackers in any Forum area outside of the INVITES thread. To post in the INVITES threads, a five or more post history is required. Attempts to bypass this rule by sending a PM to others begging for an invitation to a private tracker or by posting in other site areas will result in disciplinary action.
m) A specific rule of this site is that there is to be no talk of trading, selling, buying, or begging of PWN Network invitations. Violation will result in an immediate permanent ban.
n) All materials once posted on Wiihacks.com, become the sole property of Wiihacks.com, and to be used in anyway at its sole discretion. (ie: edit, delete, closed, open, locked)
2. Piracy and cheating is neither condoned nor supported by WiiHacks. WiiHacks resources and activities support the precepts of “fair use” of the games purchased by our members.

a) Asking for or providing information, assistance, sources for, or direct provision of pirated materials, theft, or other illegal activities violate site rules.
b) There are to be no links to sites that directly provide illegal or pirated material. Members are not to directly provide material or links that provide material in violation of copyright to others using the communications resources of the WiiHacks.com site. Such material includes, but is not limited to, commercially available Wii game ISOs and WiiWare and Virtual Console games. As a copy of the Wii's NAND may have copyrighted downloadable content, a link to a NAND copy may only be posted if specifically requested by site staff in the Brick Forum.
c) To assist our members in making backup copies of their legally purchased games, members are allowed to identify and provide links to sites that list or track sources of game ISOs. Links to open source material are allowed.
d) WiiHacks does not provide support for game cheating or cheat codes. Do not request or provide cheat codes or assistance in game cheating.

III. Member Rights, Recourse, and Opportunities

1. If you are subjected to objectionable behavior, do not become involved in an exchange of words. You have the option to report the objectionable post. Located at the bottom of each member’s Username/Avatar area is a series of icons; use the triangle icon to report a post.

2. Members are not allowed to pursue a public argument over a decision made by a staff member or IRC OP. You ARE, however, allowed to send a polite PM to the staff member or another more senior staff member to state the reasons for your disagreement with the decision. A polite, well-written PM of explanation or protest will be reviewed and considered.

3. WiiHacks staff are chosen upon the basis of observation over time. While members are not to PM moderators asking to become a moderator, a polite post in the Applications Desk thread indicating your interest in becoming a moderator or other site staff, your qualifications and experience, and a brief background or introductory statement is acceptable.

4. Members are allowed one and only one account. Members are responsible for any and all actions made under the account. After site registration, members are expected to post in the Introductions Forum and then engage in use of site resources and services in a constructive manner as a means of becoming a member in good standing.

5. A permanent ban means just that; it is permanent and the former member is not to open another account. Detection of an effort to bypass the rules will result in immediate, permanent ban of the member and the IP address. Any member impersonating or using another member's ID to access iRC or other site resources or services will be banned.

6. Members under any disciplinary action, except that of a ban, retain the right to PM the moderator and politely protest the punishment.

7. Members in good standing are eligible to participate in site contests, providing any contest-specific requirements are also met.

8. Members are allowed to personalize their posts by displaying an avatar and a signature banner. There is to be no commercial advertisement unless one is a site sponsor or explicit permission has been granted. Images, text, or usernames deemed indecent, vulgar, objectionable or otherwise inappropriate by the site staff are not allowed and will be removed without prior notification. Members breaking these rules may be both personally and IP banned.

a) Avatars – the maximum file size for an avatar is 20KB
b) Signature banner – in general, banners up to about 350 x 90 pixels are acceptable. Signature banners deemed too large, by the WiiHacks staff, will be removed; possibly including the post.
c) The maximum combined file size for all graphics in a signature/avatar combination is 40KB.

IV. Additional Forum Areas with Additional Specific Rules

Newbie Discussions Forum

In addition to the website General Rules and Guidelines, there are specific rules and guidelines for the Newbie Discussions Forum. This is an area to allow members to try and help one another. More experienced members and staff will more often be found in the topic forums than here.

1. New members are expected to create a new post in the Introductions Forum. A brief post will suffice to both introduce you to our community and to learn to create a post/thread.
2. Odds highly favor the probability that a question or problem posed by a new Wii owner and novice softmodder will have been reported and stored in the WiiHacks.com archives. Use of the site’s SEARCH function and perusal of the Guides and Tutorials is strongly encouraged.
3. Should an answer not be found or a basic question needs to be posted, the Newbie Discussions Forum is an appropriate Forum for a lost or confused new member.
4. In addition to the general guidelines concerning the readability of member posts, titles of posts are important. Members and Moderators have different areas of experience, interest, and expertise. Posting questions in the related Forum location will assist in a response.
5. Be aware that a response to your query is not a right. All responses are provided on a voluntary basis with priorities given (in descending order) to site donators, Senior Members, Members, Junior Members, and then New Members.
6. Non-descriptive titles do not allow for responders to select your post for review. Such posts tend to be ignored by most members or edited with sarcastic titles. Examples of post titles that are commonly ignored include:
HELPPPPPPPPP ME! I need help, right now!!!!!
Won’t someone answer me?
I’m a noobie and need help.
Auuugggghhhh, I messed up.

7. Bumping your post tends to irritate members. Try and wait patiently for a response. Spend the time searching and reading. If you receive no response after 24 hours, please re-read your post. Chances are a rewrite is needed.

a. Posts that have a lot of run-on sentences, no line spacing, no upper and lower case letters tend to be hard to read; most members will not even try.
b. Questions that are posted in the wrong section, thread, or Forum also tend to be ignored.
c. There may be insufficient information provided – generally, skip the “I’m new” sentences and focus on the Wii, its system menu version, what has been done, what isn’t working. Don’t just say xxx doesn’t work-provide an error code or screen description.
d. Posts posing a question that has been asked and answered very frequently may also be ignored, except by a Moderator or a very kind-hearted member. Remember, there are thousands of new members registering daily, but few moderators and members available to help at any given time.

iRC; Live Chat

WiiHacks maintains a means for realtime interaction between members. Realtime interaction is currently enabled via the WiiHacks iRC Chat Room. While the tone and atmosphere is more casual in the Chat area than in the Forums, the WiiHacks site rules still apply. Violations of site rules and guidelines will result in disciplinary action. Additional rules include:

1. Each member is allowed only one unique iRC nickname linked to their site username. Creation of another nickname to bypass site rules will result in an immediate permanent site ban.
2. A unique nickname that differs from the site registration username can be requested of an SOP.
3. Any member impersonating or using another member's ID to access iRC or other site resources or services will be banned.
4. Do not PM any member or staff without prior permission.
5. The more casual and light-hearted chat and banter that occurs in the realtime venue allows for specific exceptions to the the general site rules:

a) Friendly gentle teasing and name-calling will not result in disciplinary action provided all involved parties are equally engaged in a friendly manner.
b) Similarly, members may find themselves occasionally "kicked" off by staff (Ops); if the intention, understood by all involved parties, is again under "friendly" banter and exchange, signing back on to re-engage in the friendly banter will not result in disciplinary action.
c) At the discretion of the iRC staff moderating the Chat session, the site rules concerning cursing may be occasionally relaxed depending on the members present.
6. Acceptance of the site rules and guidelines is required before a member can chat.

Blogs

WiiHacks maintains a Blog Section. In addition to the General Site Rules and Guidelines, the additional rules for the Blogs section are as follows:

1. Members in good standing with a 100-post history may create and maintain a Blog.
2. Blog entries may comprise tutorials, technology and gaming news, personal opinions and interests, and other subjects that are typical for the Blog genre.
3. Blog entries are not to be created for the purpose of requesting assistance on an individual one-time Wii problem. Those issues are to be addressed using other site areas and resources.

Buy/Sell/Trade Forum

In addition to the General Site Rules and Guidelines, the Buy/Sell/Trade Forum has additional rules as follows:

1. This area is for use of transactions between individual members. No sales by commercial entities are allowed. Posts in this area of a commercial nature will be deleted and the member considered a spammer. The Member will be banned, the post/thread deleted, and the IP address reported to an anti-spam service.
2. Threads with items for sale will be closed after 3 months.
3. Members should post “SOLD” after a successful sale of their item to allow the thread to be closed more quickly.
4. The number of items for sale is expected to be typical for an individual owner. Large lots will be considered evidence of commercial activity and treated accordingly.
5. WiiHacks.com is not liable and is not to be held responsible for the transactions that occur in this Forum. Individuals should exercise due caution when entering into an online financial transaction.
6. No exchange of pirated games or materials in violation of copyright is to occur in this forum. Do not offer to sell or ask for a hard disk or other storage device with game copies. Such posts will be deleted. Repeat violation will result in a permanent ban.

Commercial Sponsors

1. Commercial sponsors are also expected to adhere to the site General Rules and Guidelines.
2. There are to be no advertisements by commercial modding interests except by those designated as site sponsors or given explicit permission by ModderMan.
3. Site sponsors are chosen by area; no geographical area or region will have more than one identified site sponsor. As an example, Ontario, British Columbia, and Australia (atm) has one authorized site sponsor.
4. Site sponsors share a community attitude and do not aggressively solicit business among the WiiHacks membership community.
5. Site sponsors are expected to behave with professional courtesy to site members, staff, and other site sponsors.
6. Prior to approval as a site sponsor, responsible forum support for some time is required prior to final approval.
7. Applications to become a commercial sponsor are to be directed to ModderMan@WiiHacks.com
For breaking above rules you may be warned/banned appropriately!

WiiHacks.com General Rules and Guidelines [rev. 08242010; written by Gen3SF...edited and authorized by ModderMan]